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In an interview with ESPN Radio in St. Louis, McAllister said he views the Rams as a perfect fit. McAllister, who spent much of last season standing on the sideline after two major knee injuries, said he still believes he can play. However, he did admit he'd be best suited as a part-time player who can help lighten the load of a featured back.

I wouldn't even waste time on looking at his name. You have Jackson. Behind him you have Antonio Pittman, Kenneth Darby, Chris Ogbonnaya, and Samkon Gado. You have a 4-game suspension for McAllister at the beginning of the season. F*ck him!

The Best there is, The Best there was, The BEST THERE EVER WILL BE..... King Killah!

Here's an early heads-up for any wealthy individuals, families or potential investor groups in the St. Louis area who dream of owning an NFL franchise:

You're in luck.

But you might want to act fast, because the Rams are likely to hit the open market in the near future, officially offered for sale by majority owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez.

After inheriting control of the Rams in early 2008 from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere, Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have concentrated on reorganizing the football operation. And they've had to deal with complex estate-tax issues in the aftermath of their mother's death.

With substantial progress made in those areas, the timetable for a sale has moved up.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Post-Dispatch on Saturday that Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have retained the services of Goldman Sachs, the prominent investment banking firm.

The owners will ask Goldman Sachs to help facilitate the sale of the Rams by evaluating bids and soliciting potential buyers.

The sale price is unknown, but Forbes magazine's most recent estimate listed the Rams' value at $929 million.

And if you are a St. Louis Rams fan, here's the reason to be concerned: I'm told there will be no preconditions attached to the sale of the Rams. This means the Rams could be scooped up by out-of-town buyers.

And that's a dramatic — and potentially ominous — development, given the Rams' shaky lease at the Edward Jones Dome.

Until now, Rosenbloom, the franchise's managing partner, has said he was open to the idea of selling the Rams as long as the new owner agreed to keep the team in St. Louis, long-term. Rosenbloom hoped that his pledge would entice a buyer from the St. Louis community.

According to a source familiar with Rosenbloom's thinking, Rosenbloom is discouraged by the apparent lack of local ownership interest. Rosenbloom, the source said, has been waiting for more than a year for a St. Louis-area bidder to step forward, to no avail.

The source said Rosenbloom's strong preference is to sell to St. Louis representatives. But with nothing happening on the St. Louis front, Rosenbloom has reluctantly concluded that the only way to expedite a sale is to make the Rams available to any party, near or far. And that includes Los Angeles, the Rams' home until moving to St. Louis in 1995.

When reached Saturday, Rosenbloom declined to comment on sale and stadium issues. "The most important thing for me right now is putting a winning team on the field," he said. "And we don't want that goal to be disrupted in any way."

Rodriguez could not be reached for comment.

Rosenbloom and Rodriguez own a combined 60 percent of the Rams, with Stan Kroenke still in place with a 40 percent ownership share.

I'm told that Kroenke wants to retain his 40 percent piece of the Rams. That's a positive development. Local bidders would have to fund a 60 percent purchase instead of all 100 percent.

According to strict NFL rules on cross-ownership, Kroenke is prohibited from being the majority owner of the Rams unless he first sells two other teams that he owns, the NBA's Denver Nuggets and NHL's Colorado Avalanche.

If the Rams are to be secured for St. Louis on a long-term basis, finding a local owner is the first and most important step.

Unless local ownership emerges, the Rams' future in St. Louis is increasingly uncertain.

The Rams' lease agreement with the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission stipulates that the Edward Jones Dome must be a "top-tier" facility that ranks among the top eight stadiums in terms of quality in the 32-team NFL by 2015.

If that top-level status is not met, the Rams would be able to opt out of the stadium lease following the 2014 season.

It's virtually impossible for the CVC to meet that top-eight standard. By 2010, 23 NFL stadiums will have been built or thoroughly renovated since the Edward Jones Dome opened in 1995.

Even with a $30 million upgrade that's being done now, the Edward Jones Dome will be one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL by 2015.

In 2012 the CVC and the Rams will each submit a plan to suitably improve the Dome. And if they can't agree, the dispute will go to arbitration.

The source with knowledge of Rosenbloom's thinking describes the owner as reluctant to get into an extended and nasty battle with the CVC — which probably explains the timing of Rosenbloom's decision to sell sooner.

This is what concerns me:

Coming up with public financing to build a new football stadium in St. Louis is virtually impossible. What about public dollars for a massive renovation of the Dome? A long shot — though voters in Jackson County, Mo., passed a sales-tax increase to refurbish Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

And what about a compromise solution that could make the Dome workable for the Rams and the CVC for the intermediate future until both sides agree on a long-range plan?

If an out-of-towner gets control of the franchise and is determined to move to, say, Los Angeles, it would be easy to play hardball and rebuff the CVC's efforts to reach that compromise.

But if new local ownership emerges to take charge of the Rams, I believe the chances of conciliation will increase dramatically.

Make no mistake, the Rams will be in play — and soon.

Will a local buyer preserve the franchise for St. Louis? And how will city-regional leadership respond to the challenge?

The Rams have "genuine interest" in suspended Falcons QB Michael Vick, according to Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post.
"If (commissioner Roger Goodell) reinstates him, look for (the Rams) to actively pursue him," Lombardi writes. "It makes sense, a new coach with an older quarterback (Marc Bulger) who hasn’t played well. Playing in a dome on carpet would highlight Vick’s speed and athleticism." The Rams have denied it and their ownership situation is in flux, but Lombardi says the team has done its due diligence on Vick. With their long-term quarterback situation up in the air, Vick could be a possibility to succeed Bulger.Source: National Football Post

I'm not sure if he would be good replacement for Bulger. Granted his (former) speed and quickness and his ability for short dump-off passes suits well in the new West Coast Offense the Rams want to implement.
But he hasn't played in more than two years or even really trained.

Jim Thomas, of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, reports that while there is no clear-cut backup to starting running back Steven Jackson, Kenneth Darby looks like the leading contender for the spot.

Darby has been looking like his junior year at Alabama more than his senior year. Which is a good thing. He looks to be the best bet if you are looking to handcuff someone to Steven Jackson for the injury hedge.

The Best there is, The Best there was, The BEST THERE EVER WILL BE..... King Killah!

Nick Wagoner, of StLouisRams.com, reports that WR Donnie Avery will be out 4-6 weeks with a foot injury. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo said, "MRI showed more than we thought. 4 to 6 week injury. We'll have more in the morning."

The only downside to doing fantasy drafts early... I have seen Avery go early in drafts. Still its only 4-6 weeks so he shouldn't miss too much regular season time.

The Best there is, The Best there was, The BEST THERE EVER WILL BE..... King Killah!

The only downside to doing fantasy drafts early... I have seen Avery go early in drafts. Still its only 4-6 weeks so he shouldn't miss too much regular season time.

I never understood why do drafts so early. I always plan mine the week before Week 1. That way, injuries are all reported, depth charts are pretty clear and you have a good feel leaving preseason of who's ready and who isn't.

There's a big chance for an 0-7 start before facing the Lions in week 8.So it's not a surprise if the Rams go 1-7 into the Bye week. But even the Lions game is far from s sure shot.
After the Bye there are maybe 2 or 3 wins aginst the division rivals at home.

But in the end not much more than 4-12 maybe 5-11 at best.

Strange is the fact that Smith plays RT and not LT right away. Mr. False-Start Alex Barron plays LT maybe because he doesn't suck as much there than he does as RT. But still a surpirse they don't give the LT job to Smith right away.

There's a big chance for an 0-7 start before facing the Lions in week 8.So it's not a surprise if the Rams go 1-7 into the Bye week. But even the Lions game is far from s sure shot.
After the Bye there are maybe 2 or 3 wins aginst the division rivals at home.

But in the end not much more than 4-12 maybe 5-11 at best.

Strange is the fact that Smith plays RT and not LT right away. Mr. False-Start Alex Barron plays LT maybe because he doesn't suck as much there than he does as RT. But still a surpirse they don't give the LT job to Smith right away.

Bill Coats, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reports that in a preseason game against the team that traded him away Laurent Robinson had game highs of five catches and 65 yards Aug. 21 vs. Atlanta, perhaps exorcising any lingering hard feelings while also solidifying his first-team assignment opposite second-year wideout Donnie Avery. "I never really thought I was going to make it to the NFL," said Robinson, 24. "But the reality is here, and I'm excited for it."

I have mixed thoughts on this. ONE...IF YOU PLAY BALL, you...BETTER believe in yourself enough to make it to the pros. So, I am not excited over the lack of confidence here. But, although he didn't do much in Atlanta when he was there, I liked him and always thought that he could produce. In Atlanta he was always behind White, Jenkins, Crumpler, Finneran... He put up 400+ in '07 with limited looks. I am skeptical on the Rams offensive line to give Bulger/Boller time, but think Robinson could prove to be valuable.

The Best there is, The Best there was, The BEST THERE EVER WILL BE..... King Killah!

Rams DT Adam Carriker reportedly needs shoulder surgery and could miss the rest of the season.
Carriker made his preseason debut last night after dealing with an ankle sprain and promptly injured his shoulder. It's the same shoulder that required surgery in the 2008 offseason. Gary Gibson will continue to start, but Carriker was one of the Rams most talented defenders. It's a major blow to their defense. Source:St Louis Post-Dispatch

Looks more and more like another Top5 pick in 2010. Welcome Tim Tebow.

Strange fact: The Rams started the decade as the best team in football and finish the decade as the worst.

And now the question is whether to take Suh or Claussen (or maybe Locker if he decides to declare for the draft) with the #1 overall pick.

With already 2 early first round picks (Carricker and Long) on the D-Line and no QB with Bulger being cut in the off-season due his high salary and Boller and Null being shitty at best a QB is most likely the way to go.

But Locker still has time to change his mind. Especially considering the likelihood of a rookie payscale for the 2011 draft once a new CBA is agreed to.
So this might be the last chance for a big paycheck early on.

I'll call Clausen as the first pick. The QB play is shitty there and they need a guy to sell tix. Clausen is easily the most NFL ready. The Suh / Clausen debate will be similar to the one of Stafford or Curry last year in Detroit. I would bet on the QB.

St. Louis Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are closing in on a decision to accept one of three offers to purchase the team or walk away from the bidders and keep the franchise, league sources told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.

A decision could be reached before the NFL draft in late April, not because of any kind of firm deadline, but simply to avoid uncertainty surrounding the team and its future entering the 2010 season.

All three offers, described as "acceptable" by the sources, are comparable to what the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise recently sold for — which was in the range of total franchise value of $720 million to $800 million.

The only known bid for the team is from a group of investors headed by St. Louis Blues hockey chairman Dave Checketts. The identity of the other two bidders remains unknown, although one was a relative late-comer in the process.

The three bidders are committed in varying degrees to keeping the franchise in St. Louis, and that may have an impact on any sale decision.

Rosenbloom and Rodriguez own 60 percent of the franchise, which they inherited from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere. Frontiere died on Jan. 18, 2008 — two years ago Monday — after a long battle with breast cancer. It is that 60 percent of the team that is for sale.

Stan Kroenke owns the other 40 percent of the team.

But at least one of the bids is for the full 100 percent of the team, in which case Kroenke's share would be bought out as well. But if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez end up selling only their 60 percent of the team, Kroenke could potentially scuttle the deal by saying he wants to "cash out," or sell his share of the team as well. If that's the case, the 60 percent investor may not have enough money to buy the full franchise.

Those close to Rosenbloom say he has yet to get any indication from Kroenke on what he will do, although there have been signals from the Kroenke camp that he will simply hold his 40 percent share of the team if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez sell their 60 percent.

Kroenke also has matching rights on any outside offers for the team. But under current NFL cross-ownership rules, he would not be allowed to exercise that right as long as he owns majority shares of the Denver Nuggets NBA team and the Colorado Avalanche NHL franchise. Kroenke also owns 29.9 percent of the English soccer club Arsenal, a team valued at $1.2 billion.

Some clarity could be added to the issue this week. The Rams' brain trust is meeting in Los Angeles today and Thursday for the team's annual end-of-season summit meeting. Kroenke is expected to attend at least one day's worth of the meetings. If Kroenke indicates that he's on board with any sale decision by Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, an agreement with a buyer could be signed relatively quickly.

Coach Steve Spagnuolo, general manager Billy Devaney and executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff will be in attendance at the Los Angeles meetings as well, with much of the discussion dealing with on-the-field matters.

Confidentiality agreements between the Rams and potential bidders have led to very little news about the potential sale of the franchise, which has been in St. Louis since 1995. One of the few exceptions came in October when word leaked out that radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh had joined a group of investors headed by Checketts.

The outcry from within and outside the NFL was so strong against Limbaugh's inclusion that he was dropped from the group Oct. 14.

But Checketts' group has gone forward without Limbaugh, finding alternative investment, and remains one of the groups in contention to buy the team, although not necessarily the front-runner. Checketts, through a spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday.

Technically, the decision to sell is Rosenbloom's because he has the controlling vote with the team. But it's highly unlikely he will sell the team without his sister's consent.

There is some sentiment in the family toward holding on to the team despite a 1-15 season that was the worst won-lost record in franchise history.

The Rosenbloom-Frontiere family has owned an NFL franchise — first the Colts, and now the Rams — for nearly 60 years. Only a handful of NFL teams have been owned by the same group, or family, for a longer period.

The pressure to sell the team comes from estate taxes resulting from the death of Frontiere. By 2014, Rosenbloom and Rodriguez must start paying on the principal of those estate taxes rather than the interest, and that increased payment would severely cut into the team's profits.

Despite the favorable lease arrangement at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams are in the bottom quarter of the league's 32 teams in terms of profitability.

Even if the team is sold to an owner or ownership group not interested in keeping the team in St. Louis, the earliest the Rams could get out of the dome lease is following the 2014 season.

Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez have entered into a signed agreement to sell the team to Shahid Khan, multiple NFL sources told the Post-Dispatch late Wednesday night.

Khan, 55, is the president of Flex-N-Gate Corp., an auto-parts manufacturer based in Urbana, Ill. Khan has lived in the Champaign-Urbana area for more than 40 years and is married with two adult children. Khan is a graduate of the School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois.

According to league sources, Khan will purchase the 60 percent of the team owned by siblings Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, who inherited the franchise from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere, in early 2008. NFL owners must approve the sale.

The Rams owners and Khan won't close on the deal until sometime next month.

Stan Kroenke owns the 40 percent remaining, and it's unclear if Kroenke plans to retain his share. If Kroenke wants to be bought out, sources say Khan is likely to do so, and that would make him the 100 percent owner.

Kroenke also has the right of first refusal to buy the Rosenbloom-Rodriguez 60 percent, but current NFL rules barring cross ownership prevent Kroenke from taking over as the team's majority owner. Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets in the NBA and the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL. To buy a controlling interest, Kroenke would have to persuade the NFL to change its ownership rules.

Multiple league sources describe Khan as an enthusiastic Rams fan who has attended home games at the Edward Jones Dome. League sources say Khan is committed to keeping the team in St. Louis — and that was an important consideration to Rosenbloom and Rodriguez in making their decision to sell to him.

The Rams will probably be able to vacate their lease agreement after the 2014 season, but sources say Khan is willing to work with local leaders in an effort to assure the team's long-term future in St. Louis. A source noted Khan's deep and stable roots in central Illinois as a sign that he wants to own an NFL franchise in St. Louis — and in no other market.

Moreover, Khan is said to have special feelings for St. Louis because he arrived in St. Louis early in his life when his parents moved to the United States from Pakistan.

Khan began working for Flex-N-Gate in 1970 and has owned the company since 1980. Under Khan's direction, Flex-N-Gate's revenue has increased to more than $2 billion. The company manufactures metal and plastic automotive components and assemblies, such as bumpers, grilles, hinges, interior panels and pillars, latches, pedal systems, parking brakes and running boards for a wide range of customers in the automobile industry including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, General Motors, Toyota and Volvo. Flex-N-Gate has more than 50 manufacturing and engineering facilities in the U.S., Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Spain.

Khan received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Illinois in 1999 and has served on multiple boards at Illinois.

Rosenbloom and Rodriguez entertained several other offers for the Rams, including one from a group led by Blues Chairman Dave Checketts.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—The St. Louis Rams released quarterback Marc Bulger(notes) on Monday, perhaps clearing the way for them to take Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo said in a release that it was difficult to make the move and wished the 33-year-old Bulger well. Last month the Rams signed A.J. Feeley(notes), presumably as next year’s backup on a team that was 1-15 in 2009.

“It is always hard to part ways with someone you care for and appreciate,” Spagnuolo said. “I will always be indebted to him for his work ethic, character and leadership.”
The Rams were among the teams impressed by Bradford’s workout last week in Norman, Okla. Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, made a convincing case that he would make a complete recovery from shoulder surgery last October, completing all but one of 50 passes.

This was pretty much a given... The Rams going after Bradford part. It got a little shaky with the McNabb to St. Louis talks happening, but I figured Bradford was always their choice.

The Best there is, The Best there was, The BEST THERE EVER WILL BE..... King Killah!